


Wish I Was Enough

by Legogirl22



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Galra Empire, Hugs, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Needs a Hug, M/M, OOC, Pain, Torture, Whipping, lance GETS a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:02:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29694765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legogirl22/pseuds/Legogirl22
Summary: Lance was in love with Shiro, but he never said anything. Because he was also developing a crush on Keith. When Keith and Shiro tell the team they are dating, Lance started to pull away. He pretended everything was alright, but he was hurt. When they end up taken by the Galra together, Lance will do anything to keep Keith from harm and Shiro happy.Then Haggar finds out about Lance's feelings for Shiro and uses it to her advantage.You guys can put this wherever you feel it fits in the series. But I hadn't finished season 6 when writing it. (Although I know the spoilers.) The characters are probably way out of character, but I enjoyed writing them like this.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 130





	Wish I Was Enough

**Author's Note:**

> What should I be doing? Homework, studying for my exams. What am I doing? Three days of writing this. Hope you enjoy.

Lance was tired of being captured by the Galra. It was getting repetitive. He glanced over to his left, where Keith and Shiro were sitting. He wasn’t sure if he was glad they were with him or not. On one hand, at least he wasn’t alone. On the other, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if either of them were hurt. He glanced to his right, where two Galran soldiers were guarding the cell door. He inched closer to Shiro, but he stayed a good foot away from him. Lance was leaning against the right wall, while Keith and Shiro were leaning against the back wall. They were closer to the left side of the room away from the door. Shiro had tried to get Lance to go over to them, but he stopped when the Galra entered the cell. He kept glancing worriedly at Lance, but Lance was determinedly looking at the other wall and ignoring Keith and Shiro. Keith had tried to figure out what was wrong on several occasions, but Lance refused to say anything and brushed away his concerns with a smile and a “I’m fine. Just tired.” 

It wasn’t like Keith or Shiro had done anything wrong. In fact, it wasn’t their fault at all. It just seemed that both Keith and Lance were in love with Shiro and Shiro chose Keith. He was happy for them. He really was. But that didn’t stop his chest from feeling like it was caving in on itself as his heart broke with every beat. It didn’t stop the thoughts of his worthlessness creeping up on him at inopportune moments. It didn’t stop the burn in his eyes every time he saw them together. He could be happy for them, but from a distance. He needed time to recover and move on. 

The cell door opened, and Lance wished he had moved over to Shiro and Keith. Haggar, the Druid, entered the cell, and her eyes zeroed in on Lance. She noticed the distance, and she was going to capitalize on it. Shiro and Keith had tensed and tried to move towards Lance. But the guards knocked them off their feet. They were forced to kneel. Lance was grabbed and thrown to the ground in front of Shiro before being pulled up by his hair so he was also kneeling. Shiro was trying to catch his eye, but Lance resolutely stared at the ground. Shiro opened his mouth to say something, but with a glance at Haggar, he closed it.

“I am most pleased. Three captured paladins. Now if only we had caught one of the lions too,” Haggar said. “Tell me, Champion, why is this one so far from you?” She curled her finger through a lock of Lance’s hair. He flinched. Her attention turned to the blue paladin, when all Shiro did was glare at her. “Heard the stories about me, have you? Good. It’ll only make your screams more pleasing.” 

“I don’t see how,” said Keith, “You hardly look like a threat.”

“Keith,” Shiro hissed. 

“Make a paladin scream?” Keith scoffed. “I’d like to see you try.” Haggar stepped towards him with anger controlling her senses. Her hand started sparking. Lance panicked. She was going to shoot lightning at Keith. If Keith died, then Shiro would be upset. And all Lance wanted was Shiro to be happy. He broke away from his guard and tackled Keith. Keith hit the wall, and the lightning hit Lance.

“LANCE!” Keith shouted. Lance’s back arched as purple lightning danced across his skin. He screamed. As quickly as it started, the lightning disappeared. Lance collapsed, and Keith caught him. He weakly grabbed at Keith’s t-shirt. 

“This is going to be more fun than I thought,” said Haggar, and she moved towards Keith and Lance. Lance straightened, moving his arms to wrap around Keith’s neck. He glared at Haggar over his shoulder. “Lance, was it? Why don’t you tell me why you came between me and the red paladin?” Lance didn’t say anything. A guard moved to hit him, but Haggar stopped him with a hand. “It’s no matter. I have … other methods of getting answers.” She touched the fingernail of her index finger against his temple. “One last chance, Lance, tell me why.” Lance narrowed his eyes. “Very well.” A scream tore from Lance’s throat as Haggar forced her way into his memories.

_Lance was watching Keith and Shiro spar. They were working on hand to hand, and since Shiro was the best, they were all going against him one on one. He watched everything. He loved how easily and fluidly Shiro moved. He loved the look of concentration. He loved the playful remarks. He briefly glanced at Keith. Keith was admirable too, but he didn’t provoke as strong of a reaction from Lance._

_Lance had a nightmare and couldn’t fall back to sleep. He walked around for a while before deciding to go to the observation deck that Corran had shown him. Before he entered, he saw Keith and Shiro were in there. He hesitated. He didn’t particularly want Shiro or Keith to know about his nightmares. They were facing him but hadn’t noticed him yet. Lance couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could see Keith’s face and he recognized the look. A flash of sadness sank into his stomach. Keith was in love with Shiro too. He left as quietly as he had come. Not noticing the way Keith’s forehead furrowed as he watched him. Lance knew he couldn’t pursue Shiro anymore. He couldn’t hurt his friendship. Besides, the conflicting feelings he felt for Keith were another reason he shouldn’t try._

_Lance froze. He didn’t know what to do. His chest hurt and breathing was hard. Shiro had just told the team that Keith and him were a couple. The others were enthusiastically congratulating them. Keith looked at him, and his smile fell a little. Lance knew he had to act normal, so he buried his feelings behind a wall. He got up with a smile and a laugh. Despite his heart breaking, he could tell that Shiro was happier than any other time Lance had seen him. That would make it okay._

Keith had pissed off the Druid. She was going to hurt him. Hurt Keith equals hurt Shiro. No. Shiro couldn’t hurt. He had been hurt enough already. He glanced at Keith and then at Haggar. Everything was moving in slow motion when he jumped in front of him. 

Lance was brought suddenly back into the present. He had curled up in Keith’s hold, and Keith was trying to get his attention. “How disgustingly noble of you,” Haggar sneered. “But I’ll give you what you want. We’ll see how long before you break.”

“Leave him alone,” said Keith with a snarl. 

“No, I don’t think I will. I love the way you screamed for him. Now let’s see if we can get a reaction from the Champion.” Shiro glared at her. “Nothing? Pity. I’ll try again in a few hours.” She left the room. One of the guards followed her out. The other two returned to the door, glaring at the paladins. 

“Lance?” Keith asked. “Come on. Talk to me.”

“Are you alright?” Shiro asked, and Lance hated the worry in his voice. He nodded, even though his veins felt like they were on fire. He buried his face into Keith’s neck and reassured himself with his breathing. 

“Lance, what did she see?” Keith asked, and Lance stiffened. They were not having this conversation. Not here. Not now. Not ever. “Please.” Lance shrugged. Shiro and Keith kept trying to speak with him, but the lightning took more than he thought out of him. He fell asleep.

Lance woke up a few hours later with a hand in his hair yanking his head up. Keith shouted, and Shiro glared. He was released, and Lance dropped his head to Keith’s shoulder, breathing heavy. Keith tightened his grip on Lance. When Lance glanced at him, he was glaring at someone behind him. He decided he didn’t want to know for a few more moments. 

“Nice of you to join us, Lance,” said Haggar, and Lance almost groaned. Yeah, that was who he thought it was. He stayed silent, but he sat up turning slightly. He faced Shiro and looked at an angle at Haggar. His right side was pressed against Keith’s stomach and chest. His left arm rested on his side, while his right was wrapped around Keith’s neck. “I have some questions. Since you don’t seem to be in a talking mood, your teammates will answer them. If they don’t, you will face the consequences.” 

“If you touch him…” Keith started.

“You are not in the position to be making threats, paladin,” said Haggar, and she sent a short burst of lightning at Lance. He doubled over with a yelp. Keith glared daggers at her. “Come here.” Lance stared at her. “No one will touch the Red Paladin as long as he stays put. Now come here, or he can take your place.” The threat was all Lance needed to get moving. Before Keith could tighten his grip on the blue paladin, Lance was already halfway to Haggar. 

“Leave him alone,” said Keith. Lance wasn’t sure how he felt. He knew that Keith begging and threatening won’t do anything. They will hurt him no matter what. It touched him that Keith cared enough to try, but Shiro hadn’t said anything. Sure, he glared. But he never said anything. Would he beg if it was Keith being tortured? That was a path he didn’t want his thoughts to take. It would not help in this situation. By the cruel smile on Haggar’s face, Lance realized she had been reading his mind again. Oh no.

“That’s an interesting thought, Lance, why don’t we test it out?” she asked. Lance glared at her. You won’t make it close enough to him. She smirked cruelly. “We’ll see. I will break you, Lance.” He hated when she said his name. It came out cruel and twisted. “Let’s begin, shall we? Champion, where are the lions?” 

“I don’t know,” he said. She threw her hand out and twisted. Lance screamed. “What are you doing to him?” Shiro almost sounded desperate. 

“I am inflaming his nerves. It has the perks of being excruciatingly painful without the injuries. Less clean up. Better results.”

“I don’t know where the lions are.” 

Lance screamed again. Sweat poured from his forehead already. “Now, don’t be daft. I know you can sense their presence in your mind. Use your bond to tell me where they are, and you can save your friend from further pain.” Lance was breathing heavy, and Shiro glanced at him. 

“I don’t know where they are.” Lance managed to hold back his scream this time. He bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed. His lack of screaming angered Haggar. The screams were hurting the Black paladin. She kept inflaming the nerves longer than before, but she ultimately had to release the spell.

“You are going to regret that, Lance.” Before she could start the torture again, another guard entered the room.

“Emperor Zarkon requests your presence,” he said.

“Another time then,” said Haggar, and she left the cell. The guards released Lance, and he stumbled. Shiro reached to steady him, but Lance was already moving to intercept a guard heading towards Keith. The guard was snarling, and Keith glared at him, egging him on. Lance was between them before anything could happen, and the guard simply shoved him roughly into Keith. Keith caught him and pulled him towards him. Lance latched onto him staring at the guard. The guard grunted and left. 

“Lance, I need you to talk to me. Are you okay?” asked Keith. Lance nodded again, but he felt weak. He allowed himself to rest his forehead against Keith’s chest with his hands twisted in Keith’s shirt around his stomach. “Can I see those blue eyes of yours?” Lance shook his head and moved closer. “Lance…”

“Keith,” Shiro said, “let him rest.” The three of them sat in silence. Lance moved to a more comfortable position, and Keith adjusted until he was comfortable. When the guards shifted, Lance’s eyes narrowed at them. He followed their movements. Shiro tried to distract him, but he would not be persuaded. He sighed and leaned back against the wall. He tried towards Lance, but Lance shied away from his hand. 

They didn’t talk for a few hours. It was silent until Haggar entered the cell again. Keith tightened his hold on Lance again. He was not letting him get up again. The fact that he went willingly for him drove Keith crazy. Lance was supposed to be okay. He was supposed to be protected. When they were first taken, Shiro and Keith swore that Lance would not be harmed. But now he was willingly going to be tortured to protect Keith for some inane reason. He wasn’t going to let that happen this time. His grip tightened again when Haggar pulled out a whip. 

“Maybe some physical wounds will loosen their tongues,” said Haggar. Lance tried to get up, but Keith tightened his grip. Lance struggled, but Keith refused to let him go. He was glaring daggers at the Druid. She was watching amused. 

“Take me instead,” said Keith. 

“I’m afraid not,” said Haggar. “Lance and I have a deal.” 

“I don’t care about the deal. I want you to hurt me instead.” 

“No. I quite enjoy the reactions I get from you when I hurt him. Now, hand him over or you’ll make it worse for him.” Keith gripped him tighter, but he released him with a sigh. Lance was dragged away. Haggar leaned over and whispered in Lance’s ear, “Now we’ll see if we can get your precious leader to beg.” Lance glanced at Shiro before returning his gaze to Haggar. 

“What did you say to him?” Shiro demanded.

“You’ll find out soon enough, Champion. Don’t worry,” said Haggar, and Shiro glared at her. 

She shackled Lance to the ceiling after stripping the top half of his body. He was directly in front of Shiro. Lance’s arms were stretched above his head, and he was forced to stand on his tiptoes to ease the strain on his shoulders. He looked at a spot above Shiro’s head. Lance heard a whistle and then a searing pain crossed his back. He gritted his teeth. She continued whipping him. Three more slashes ripped through the skin of his back. 

“Stop,” said Keith, “You aren’t asking questions. We don’t know what to answer.” 

“I don’t want answers. The Champion simply has to do the one thing Lance here doesn’t believe he will. Then I will stop,” said Haggar.

“And what is that?” asked Shiro.  
“That is something you will need to figure out for yourself, Champion,” said Haggar. “Until then…” Five strikes hit in quick succession. Lance couldn’t stay silent anymore; he screamed. Haggar gave him a short break. His head was bent as far as he could without stretching his back too much. He was panting, and tears were streaming down his face. He quickly glanced around the room. Keith was crying. Shiro was watching him, body tense.He looked like he was five seconds from murdering everyone in the room. Shiro met Lance’s eyes. Lance quickly averted his eyes. 

“What do you want me to do?” asked Shiro. Lance wasn’t going to answer. It wouldn’t mean anything if he had to say it. He wasn’t given the opportunity anyways. The whipping started again. He couldn’t stop himself from screaming. He could feel the blood dripping down his back. He could feel where the lashes overlapped, and he knew his back was going to be scarred after this. Three more whistles. Three more strikes. If he survived this.

There was another break. Haggar walked over and fingered the welts and cuts. “Beautiful.” Keith was struggling against some of the guards, but besides the bruising grips, he was unharmed. Shiro was leaning forward, but a single hand was enough to keep him from Lance. Lance swallowed down the hurt. His back felt like it was on fire. It felt like it was a mess of torn flesh. Why hasn’t he begged yet? She whispered, “Seems like your hero doesn’t care about you.” Lance gritted his teeth and tilted his head to the side as tears streamed down his face. He refused to sob in front of them. He refused. 

“What did you say?” asked Shiro. “Tell me now.” 

“Nothing Lance didn’t already know to be true,” said Haggar. 

“Lance…”

“Now, now. No cheating.”

“I don’t know what you want,” Shiro shouted. Haggar gave him a cruel smile, and she lifted the whip again. Desperation clouded Shiro’s face, and Lance wished there was something he could do. He was doing this to keep Shiro happy. But he didn’t look happy. Keith started up a fuss on the other side of the room. The guards had to slam his body into the wall to keep him quiet. 

“How sad, Champion? He’s figured it out,” said Haggar. 

“Shiro, b…” Keith was interrupted by a fist around his throat cutting off his air flow. Lance started to fight against the bonds. But he was quickly losing energy. 

“Stay silent, red paladin, or I won’t stop when the Champion figures it out,” said Haggar, and Keith glared but nodded. The whip fell across Lance’s back. His throat was sore, and his scream was hoarse. He was losing the energy to even scream. His whole body weight was resting on his shoulders which were inflamed by the whip. A single tear fell down Shiro’s face.  
“Stop,” he said quietly. 

“I couldn’t hear you,” said Haggar, and she struck Lance again. He whimpered as he wobbled. 

“Stop, please,” said Shiro. Haggar didn’t stop. “Please stop. You’re killing him. Please. Take me. Hurt me. Leave him alone.” Shiro’s pleas were becoming more and more desperate. With one last strike, Haggar backed up. Lance was released from the chains, and he fell to the ground in front of Shiro. Shiro immediately moved Lance to his side, gently tucking him into his side. 

“We’re done for the day. I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning.” Haggar left the room, and the guards returned to their posts. Shiro refused to let go of Lance as Lance burrowed his face into his shoulder and cried. Keith hesitantly moved towards where Haggar had dropped his clothes. He moved quickly back to Shiro, and Shiro moved him behind him glaring at the emotionless guards. 

“Are you okay, Keith?” asked Shiro.

“I’m fine. Lance is the one we need to be worried about.” 

Lance had calmed down with only a few tears still leaking from his eyes and his breath was less shaky as before. Shiro gently tightened his grip on Lance. “I’m sorry, Lance. If I had known earlier that she was looking for that, I would have begged sooner.” Lance didn’t say anything. He didn’t react to the words at all. Shiro looked at Keith with desperation in his eyes. He hoped that Lance did not believe that he didn’t care for him. Lance was gently moved away from Shiro’s shoulder, and they dressed him as quickly as they could trying to lessen his pain. Lance tried his best to swallow his moans and whimpers of pain, but he was not completely successful. When they were done, Lance leaned against Keith.“I’m so sorry, Lance,” said Shiro with guilt in his voice. That wouldn’t do. He managed to smile his normal fake smile. His reassurance seemed to have the opposite effect than he attended. Shiro was more upset.

“Shiro, it wasn’t your fault. She’s just twisted,” said Keith. 

“You didn’t think I would,” said Shiro, and Lance froze. Quiznack, he forgot that Haggar added that little tidbit of information. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t think of anything that would remove the look of guilt and hurt from Shiro’s face. “Why would you think I wouldn’t beg to save you?” Lance shrugged and winced as it tugged on the wounds on his back. “Lance, I will always do my best to protect you. If begging would save you pain, then I will beg.” Lance didn’t say anything. “The reason I haven’t been is that it typically doesn’t work, and it can make things worse for the one being tortured.” 

“Like in this case, I screamed your name, and now they won’t touch me or Shiro,” Keith said staring at the ground. Lance, despite the pain, hugged Keith tightly to his body. He wished that they would stop feeling guilty. Lance had chosen this pain to spare them. Not make it worse. 

Shiro sighed. “Lance, what are you doing?” Lance refused to look at him. “You don’t make eye contact with us. When we do meet your eye, you are quick to look away. And I can’t remember the last time you talked directly to us outside of a battle scenario. If we have done something, if we have offended you in any way, please tell us.” Lance felt guilt churn in his stomach. There was nothing they had done. It was his fault. He didn’t want to slip up. He wanted to move on. They had each other. His feelings were unrequited, and he refused to mess up their relationship by making things awkward. Both of them would do their best to help him. They would stop being so close while he was around. It would strain their relationship. 

“Lance, you can talk to us,” Keith said, and Lance knew that in any other situation that would be true. He should have talked to Hunk. Maybe he would have been able to help him move on. 

“Whatever this is, Lance, needs to stop. You are putting your life at risk, and I can’t fathom why. As your leader and your friend, I can’t let you do this,” said Shiro, and he pushed Lance’s chin up, forcing him to make eye contact. Lance’s eyes blurred with tears, and Shiro moved his hand to rest on his shoulder and squeezed. Keith tightened his grip. “We’re here for you.” 

That night was rough. Lance hurt everywhere, and there was no comfortable position. Keith and Shiro leaned against the back wall, and Lance rested his head on Keith’s shoulder. Shiro sat watching the entrance. He was guarding them, but all of them knew that if Haggar came for Lance, Lance would go to her. But why? What was he trying to accomplish? Shiro could understand wanting to protect them. He wanted to protect Lance and Keith as well, but to go to such extremes as to make a deal with Haggar, would he? Well, yes, actually he would, but that doesn’t mean Lance should. Lance should be worried about himself, not them. They would be fine. What was his motivation? Sure, they all cared for each other, but this was extreme. And what did the Druid see that made her go along with the deal anyways? 

Keith fell asleep after a few hours, and Lance fell into a fitful sleep soon after. He groaned and tried to roll over, but no matter what position he laid in his back throbbed. Shiro brushed the hair out of his face and mopped the sweat as best he could. Lance was going to die here if Shiro didn’t figure this out. That was not acceptable. Lance was the team’s light. He was their heart. The team would fall apart without Lance’s jokes and upbeat personality. If he could find out what Haggar had over him, then he could fix this. A sudden thought came to Shiro, and he prayed this wasn’t true. It would be harder to figure it out and convince Lance to stop. What if it wasn’t something the Druid had over him? What if he was holding something over himself? He watched Lance sleep, wishing that he could take the pain from him. 

“Lance, why?” Shiro whispered, “What are you trying to do?” He didn’t get an answer, but he was sure that if Lance was awake, he still wouldn’t answer. He hadn’t been talking to them. He hadn’t said anything to them while they were in the cell. Shiro was trying to bury the hurt. Now was not the time to deal with these emotions, but Lance was distancing himself from them. And had been for awhile. But only them. He was still cooking with Hunk, messing with Pidge, sharing stories with Corran, and flirting with Allura. But he stopped coming to Shiro to spar. He stopped forcing Keith to stop training to eat or sleep. He stopped sitting on Keith to stop him from leaving to train. He stopped bantering with Keith. He stopped bringing Shiro hot chocolate on his bad nights where he couldn’t sleep. Why was Lance awake so late in the night? Shiro never asked. He was dumping all of his nightmares on Lance, and he never thought about how Lance knew he was up unless he was already up.

In the morning, Keith woke up first. He had started leaning against Shiro during the night. He sat up which caused Lance to stir. “Shhhh, go back to sleep.” Lance mumbled and fell back to sleep. “Did you sleep at all, Shiro?”

“No,” he said, “I have been trying to figure out what’s going on with Lance.”

“Any luck?” 

“No. I think that he is holding something over himself, but I can’t think of what.”

Keith sighed, and when Lance started shifting, he shushed him again and ran a hand through his hair. He settled. “I want to ask him and keep asking until he answers. But he won’t. He’s tired and hurt. We should let him rest.” 

“I know, Keith. I don’t know when he stopped trusting us, stopped believing that he could come to us. But he did.” 

“Then why is he doing this? If he doesn’t trust us, why?” Keith asked harshly.

“Just because he doesn’t trust us doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about us,” said Shiro, “Which is the problem. He cares about us to take the beatings for us, but he doesn’t trust us to take care of him back.”

“Then what do we do?” asked Keith, and when Shiro didn’t say anything, he continued, “He’s going to get himself killed.”

“I know, Keith. Dammit, I know. But I don’t know what to do.” 

The two of them fell silent. After another half hour, Lance started to stir and wouldn’t go back to sleep. He gingerly sat up, but sharp pains still shot through his back. He leaned against Keith, gasping. Keith supported him, so he wouldn’t put too much pressure on his back. None of them spoke, giving Lance the much needed break. He couldn’t quite put up his mask today. He was in too much pain to be able to smile like everything was alright. 

Haggar returned, and Lance almost groaned. He managed to stop himself in time, knowing that would make Haggar angrier. She stared at the three of them for a while, trying to decide what to do. While whipping him was fun and got some delicious reactions from the two other paladins, it was too repetitive. She needed some variation. 

“You are closer than when I first came in. Aren’t you glad, Champion?” asked Haggar, and Shiro glared at her. “Now, now. You don’t want to make me too angry. I might decide Lance would make the perfect subject to experiment on.” She watched the fight die from Shiro’s eyes as he glanced at Lance. “You paladins are so predictable. Threaten to hurt one and then you will do anything I ask.” 

“Leave him alone,” Shiro said.

“Unfortunately, that won’t work today, Champion. Tell me. If I had whipped the red paladin, would you have begged sooner?” Haggar asked.

“No,” said Shiro. 

“Hmmm… that’s not what Lance believes.” Shiro and Keith stiffened. “It’s incredible how many insecurities lie behind such a happy countenance. Isn’t it?”

“Stop,” said Keith.

“I already said that won’t work today,” said Haggar. “Although, I’m not sure why you are begging.”

“He’s my friend,” said Keith.

“Is he?” 

“Of course.” 

“Poor darling, you don’t know,” Haggar said with false sympathy. 

“Don’t know what?” asked Keith angrily.

“He despises you,” said Haggar with a cruel smile.

“You’re wrong. We’re a team.”

“Poor dear. He hates you.”

“Why?” 

Her cruel smile turned wider. “Because he chose you.” She pointed at Shiro. Keith was confused, focusing on the way that Lance wasn’t saying anything. He had stiffened and was glaring at her. 

Shiro’s eyes widened. Everything started making sense. Lance’s fierce protectiveness. His sudden distance. The heartbroken look he had when they told the team. “Lance… no… I didn’t… I didn’t know,” said Shiro. Haggar laughed. Lance refused to meet either of their eyes. His grip tightened Keith. 

“It doesn’t matter that you didn’t know,” Haggar said, “The damage is done. You can’t fix this.”

“Lance, please,” said Keith, crying.

“Come on, Lance, give him up,” said Haggar, and Lance didn’t move. “Let him go.” Lance shook his head, moving closer to Keith. “You know you want to. I can’t take away all of your problems. Give in to your hate.” 

“No,” said Lance.

“No? I will break you eventually. The pain can stop.”

“I don’t hate him.” Keith felt all the breath leave his body. Shiro’s shoulders slumped. Lance still refused to look at them. 

“Isn’t that interesting? Maybe it is time to switch paladins,” Haggar said. 

Lance’s glare was fierce. “No,” he said, “I won’t let you.” Haggar moved forward, and she tried to reach for Keith. Lance slapped her hand away. She started to strike him, but Shiro moved in between the two.

“Leave him alone,” said Shiro. One of the guards hit Shiro with the butt of his gun, and Shiro hit the floor. Before anyone could say or do anything else, the alarms started blaring. Haggar disappeared into the smoke, and the guards were shot from behind. When they looked up, Hunk was standing there with Pidge and Allura. 

“We need to hurry,” said Allura, “We’re here in the Green Lion, but it won’t take them long to find it.” 

“Let me carry him,” said Hunk, and Keith reluctantly handed him over. Lance whimpered. Hunk hushed him, and then they were running through the hallways. Pidge gave Shiro and Keith their bayards. Shiro and Keith took their anger and fear out on the soldiers that got in their way. 

“There!” said Allura, and she pointed to the hanger they had parked the Green Lion. Fortunately for them, the other soldiers hadn’t found it yet, and there were relatively few guards. They sprinted up the ramp. Pidge threw herself into the pilot chair. The Green Lion flew backwards before everyone was settled. Allura stumbled into the wall. Keith almost face planted, but Shiro caught him. Only Hunk and Shiro stood steady. Hunk moved to the small bed towards the back, and he gently laid him down. Lance had passed out in their escape. 

“How is he?” asked Allura.

“He’s out,” said Hunk.

“That might be for the best for now,” said Shiro, “He’s been through a lot.”

“Why is he the only one injured?” Hunk asked accusingly.

“He made some sort of deal with Haggar,” said Keith, “We tried. She wouldn’t touch us. Did you figure out why, Shiro? You looked shocked and then heartbroken.”

“Lance thinks I chose you over him,” said Shiro, “but I didn’t know. I would have done things differently if I had.”

“Known what?” asked Pidge.

“Lance had feelings for you,” said Keith, “And then you started dating me.” Shiro nodded. “But why was he so distant and why did he defend me if he’s mad about us?”

“He’s not mad about us,” said Shiro, “He doesn’t hate you or me. He honestly thinks that I would never have chosen him. You make me happy, and he knows that. He wanted to protect that.”

“He thought you would be happy as long as I was okay?” asked Keith, “Does he think we don’t care for him at all?” 

“I think there’s a lot of things Lance thinks about himself that aren’t true,” said Shiro, “Haggar said he had a lot of insecurities.”

“What do we do?” asked Pidge.

“This is something Keith and I need to fix,” said Shiro. Hunk and Pidge started to argue, but Shiro refused to back down. Lance’s insecurities centered around their relationship. They had unintentionally hurt their friend, and now they had to fix it. Keith sat by Lance’s head as he slept, and Shiro stood against the wall beside the bed. He was going to make this right. For Lance’s sake. He watched Lance rest, and he was glad that they were finally heading up and closer to fixing what's broken between them. 

When they arrived at the castle, Lance was rushed into a pod. According to Corran, he should be fully healed in a few hours. But the waiting was killing everybody. Pidge and Hunk just wanted him to be alive. Allura was worried about the wounds themselves since his back was a shredded mess. Shiro and Keith wanted to deal with the emotional turmoil Lance was in. 

Lance stumbled out the pod and was caught by Shiro. He stumbled away from him, but he waved everyone back with a smile. “I feel great. That pod really works,” he said with a laugh. He commented about taking a shower and left before anyone could stop him. When he entered the shower, he turned the hot water on. He leaned his head against the wall. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” he said. Keith and Shiro knew how he felt about Shiro. This was going to end badly. Shiro would do his best to let him down gently, but dammit, he knew that Shiro was with Keith and didn’t like him like that. They didn’t need a conversation. He needed space and time to move on. He could get over this. He wouldn’t make it awkward. Maybe he had to avoid them for a while, but it worked. He didn’t ruin what they had. They got to be happy. Everyone won. Or well they did.

After an unnecessarily long shower, Lance went to bed. He tried to sleep, but despite the long couple of days, his mind wouldn’t settle enough. Anxiety coursed through his body. All this work for naught, because the Druid read his memories and exposed them to his teammates. He knew that Shiro had understood Haggar’s words, and if Shiro knew, then Keith knew. He would never leave something this big a secret. Would Keith hate him? Would he think he’s trying to steal his boyfriend? Why did he have to fall in love with Shiro? It was never going to happen. Why was he so stupid? 

The next morning, he snuck into the kitchen early to eat some breakfast. He hadn’t slept a wink last night, but he wanted to avoid the upcoming conversation as long as possible. Maybe they would forget about it by the time he was ready to face him. He had been avoiding them for weeks with little progress in getting over it, so he was losing hope in this ever happening. After a quick meal of goo, which he only half ate, he left the room to go train. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to stay long, but he wanted to work on his sniping ability. He stayed there for about forty-five minutes before he heard Shiro and Keith in the hallway. He quickly exited and turned the corner before they arrived. He hung out in his room for a while before going to see what Pidge and Hunk were up to. Weeks passed like this. Lance left the room either right before or right after Shiro, Keith, or both entered. They were getting frustrated. 

Finally, Keith trapped Lance in his room. Lance was staring at him with alarm, and Keith hated it. Because he didn’t know what he had done to put it there. They were quiet. Lance was on his bed, and Keith was standing in the center of the room. Shiro was leaning against the doorway. 

“You’re avoiding us again, Lance,” said Keith. Lance was looking at his comforter and picking invisible lint off of it. “And ignoring us.”

“What do you want me to say?” asked Lance. 

“Why don’t you just talk to us?” asked Keith. “If you had just told us…”

“Told you what exactly?” asked Lance, looking at Keith for the first time. He was angry. “Oh, hey Keith, you know your boyfriend, yeah, I’m in love with him too.”  
“That’s better than avoiding us,” said Keith.

“I was trying not to ruin your relationship,” said Lance, “I thought that would make you happy.”

“How is avoiding us supposed to make us happy, Lance? We couldn’t figure out what we did wrong. We needed you.” 

“You had each other.”

“That doesn’t mean we didn’t need you,” said Keith, “You are still our friend.” 

“I am still your friend. I just need space.” 

“Lance,” said Shiro, and Lance looked at him, “We could have given you space if you had asked.”

“And what was I supposed to tell you for why I needed it?”

“How about the truth?” asked Keith.

“I think we already discussed how well that went over, Keith,” said Lance angrily, and he wiped his eyes to stop his tears from falling. 

“If you honestly think we would shun you for having feelings, then you don’t know us as well as you thought,” said Keith. “We care about you, Lance. We wouldn’t have hurt you.” Lance shook his head. “Don’t do that. We wouldn’t.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Lance said, “And that’s the problem.” He dropped his head into his hands, rubbing harshly at his eyes.

“Why is that a problem?” asked Shiro softly. 

“Because you’d make yourself unhappy trying to help me,” Lance said.

“Lance, we want to help you,” said Shiro, “We care about you.”

“Stop caring,” said Lance. 

“We can’t Lance,” said Shiro.

“It hurts.” Sadness crossed Shiro’s face, and Lance felt guilty. “See? This is why I didn’t tell you.” 

“Lance, if I had known, we would have handled this differently. More gently,” said Shiro, “It was never about him over you.”  
“You didn’t need to be bothered. You love him.”

“Yes, but not at the expense of you. Lance, you are equally important to me.”

“We can share him,” said Keith.

“What?” Lance asked, looking at Keith.

Keith approached him. “I don’t mind sharing Shiro with you.” Lance stared at him before shaking his head. “What?”

“It wouldn’t work,” Lance said, not making eye contact again.

“And why not?”

“Shiro does what? Chooses who he is with? Or we set up a schedule? That’s not a relationship. What if I want to spend time with him? But he wants to spend time with you?”

“We could make it work,” said Keith.

“He would choose you, Keith. Every time. You’ve been together longer.” Both of them made a noise of protest. “I don’t need a pity relationship either.” 

“We aren’t doing this out of pity, Lance. I deeply care for you,” said Shiro.

“So what? If I had told you first, you would have chosen me,” said Lance, “Were you waiting for us to make the decision for you?”

“It’s not like that,” said Shiro, and he sighed. “I cared for both of you. I didn’t know either of you returned the sentiment. Keith told me, and I just assumed that since you never said anything that you didn’t reciprocate.” 

“This relationship won’t work. Just please leave me alone,” said Lance, and tears streamed down his face. Keith and Shiro were at a loss for what to do. “I just want you to be happy, Shiro, and if that’s with Keith, then I will stay back.” 

“Lance…” Shiro started. “As thoughtful as that is, you aren’t happy. And how am I supposed to be happy knowing that I’m hurting you?” 

“This is why I didn’t want you to know,” said Lance, “I’m ruining your relationship.” 

“No, you’re not,” said Shiro, “We really need to work on your self-esteem.”

“I’m fine.”  
“I’m deleting the word fine from your vocabulary,” said Keith. “And this isn’t about our relationship. It’s about you.” 

“Lance, we can try,” said Shiro.

“I won’t be your second choice, Shiro, and I won’t make you decide between the two of us. I won’t hurt you like that. Please. Go away.” 

“We are not done discussing this,” said Shiro, “Maybe a relationship of that nature won’t work, but dammit Lance, what you did in the cell was scary. You were sacrificing yourself for my happiness.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Yes! Do you think any of us would be happy if you had died in there?”

“No, but you would have gotten over it.”

“Easier than if Keith had died?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not how that works. I love Keith. But I also love you. All of us would be devastated if you died, and for it to be our fault, that kills me.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Lance argued.

“But it is. You put yourself in harm’s way to protect Keith. I know you care a great deal for him on your own, but you have said that you wished I was happy. Lance, even if we don’t start something, you have to take care of yourself first. No one wants you dead. In fact, we all prefer you alive and healthy, but most importantly, with us.” 

Lance squeezed his eyes shut and tears slipped out. Lance gripped the bed sheets tighter in his hands. His short nails dug into the skin of palm. He let out a short sob, but he choked the others down. He felt gentle hands cup his face, but he resisted. They didn’t pressure, allowing him the time he needed. He finally looked up with tears still streaming down his face. Keith’s face blurred in front of him. He gently wiped the tears out of his eyes.

“Hey,” he said quietly. Shiro moved into the room and sat on the bed next to Lance, allowing him to lean on back. But otherwise, he did nothing. 

“Hi,” said Lance.

“What if instead of me and you sharing Shiro, me and Shiro shared you?” asked Keith.  
“What?” asked Lance.

“Instead of being two separate couples, me and Shiro. You and Shiro. We could be a trio. Me, Shiro, and you. We could do dates as a trio. We could also pair up. It wouldn’t just be me and Shiro or you and Shiro. It could also be just me and you.”

“But you don’t like me like that?” 

“No,” said Keith, and he kissed a tear right under Lance’s eye. “But I could learn. And maybe with the two of us loving you, you could learn to love yourself.” 

“Keith…” Lance started, but he stopped as Keith continued kissing him where his tears fell. 

“Just say yes, Lance,” Shiro whispered from behind.

“What if it doesn’t work?” asked Lance.

“Then it doesn’t, but you won’t be left out. I promise,” said Keith. He continued gently kissing his face, and Shiro started kissing his neck. Lance tilted his head to give him better access. Keith gently pushed Shiro back, causing him to tighten his grip on Lance’s waist. They all fell back. “What do you say?”

“Yes.”


End file.
